| ( from demosthenes.com)
Demosthenes
384-322 BC
As a youth in ancient Athens, Demosthenes had a severe
speech impediment, and people jeered at his stuttering when he
addressed his first large public assembly.
Demosthenes, the son of a prosperous sword maker, was orphaned
when he was only 8. His guardians so pilfered his estate that little
was left when Demosthenes came of age. Seeking justice, he
successfully pleaded his own case and won damages. To improve his
elocution, he talked with pebbles in his mouth and recited verses
while running along the seashore over the roar of the waves.
Demosthenes' diligent work was successful and at the age of
25 he had entered public life. He had won popularity and power when
King Philip of Macedon was beginning the conquest of Greece.
Realizing the peril, Demosthenes made eloquent appeals for his
countrymen to unite and preserve their freedom. These powerful
orations against Philip were known as philippics, a term still in
use to describe any impassioned denunciation or tirade.
The Athenians were too late in heeding Demosthenes ' warnings
and he was falsely accused of taking a bribe. He was fined and
imprisoned but escaped. When his final effort to obtain freedom for
Greece failed, he swallowed poison from his pen and died.
Demosthenes' greatest oration is entitled `On the Crown'. He
delivered it in 330 BC. It was a review and justification of his
public life and a condemnation of his bitter rival, Aeschines, who
was forced into exile.
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